New Member....1st post

Terhune · 05-03-2009, 04:28 PM

Just purchased a 2004 Sunline Solaris SE T2499...26 ft. I am using a 2006 Jeep Commander Limited with a Hemi engine for a tow vehicle and my wife and I are looking forward to taking it out the first time. We owned a Scamper pop-up for 25 years and our kids and grandkids took that over for 2 more years. We have not camped for 9 years (but did ride our Goldwing motorcycle) and we decided we wanted to get back into camping again but wanted a TT without cranking and popping up. I have gotten a lot of great info from the forums and hope to get more. I am sure I will have questions so don't be too hard on a new guy with his first TT. Thanks in advance for any information you can pass along.

Jim and Kathy

kanyonkitty · 05-03-2009, 04:40 PM

Jim & Kathy,

Welcome to the group and wonderful life of Sunline ownership. The 2499 is a very popular model. I myself have one and there are many others on this site with them.

The one thing I would like to mention to you is that your 2499 will have a LOT of tongue weight so use of a good weight distribution hitch is absolutely necessary, Reese Dual Cam HP or Equalizer, or for high $$ the Hensley. With your rather short wheel base I would also strongly recommend sway control. The three setups I mentioned incorporate sway control in their setup.

My 2499 had a measured tongue weight of #1175 lbs, so be prepared for some heavy tongue weight.

We are a very helpful, talented, friendly bunch of folks, so don't hesitate to ask anything you need to know.

We are also a group that LOVE to see pictures of Sunlines, so when you get a chance to post some pictures we'd love to see them.

Good luck with your new Sunline, and have many safe & memorable outings with it.

Kitty

Terhune · 05-03-2009, 05:30 PM

Kitty

Thanks for the information. I purchased a new hitch with sway bars and weight distribution. The 3 hour trip home was still very interesting with a strong wind and the first time I have pulled a TT. Service rep told me that I had a shorter wheel base so I had that info before I hooked up and that was the only towing negative. I have a front bedroom and read somewhere that the hitch weight is in the 700-800 lb. range (I'm not sure). Trailer gets sway in the wind so I slowed down on the interstate and that helped but the high winds made me nervous on the drive home. I know what to expect next time. I had plenty of engine to tow but wind and wheelbase may keep me camping closer to home (within 5 hours).

I will have questions....its the picture thingy that I have trouble with. Thanks again. JIM

Steve Collins · 05-03-2009, 06:07 PM

JIm,

First, welcome to the club! You won't find a nicer group of folks anywhere on the internet. And helpful, too.

What kind of weight distributing (WD) system and sway control system did your dealer provide? I ask because many times dealers will install friction sway controls which are only good for TT's up to around 5,000# GVWR. Your 2499 is rated at 7,000# GVWR, and as Kitty said, the tongue weight can get up to 1,175#. In short this means that you need to have at least 1,000# weight bars (1,200's are better still) and definately a Reese Dual Cam sway control or the Equalizer system or a Hensley.

On your WD hitch, there are two large arms extending from the hitch to the trailer's A-frame, probably connected with chains. These are not sway bars. They are WD bars, and like the handles of a wheel barrow, they transfer tongue weight back to the trailer's wheels and forward to the tow vehicle's (TV) wheels.

When we bought our Sunline, the dealer sold us adeqate WD bars, but inadequate sway control. Others have reported beind sold inadequate WD bars by their dealers. The lesson for some of us has been that the RV dealer doesn't always know best when it comes to proper towing systems.

My primary advice to you is to go to the Towing and Tow Vehicles section of this forum, and read as much as possible about towing setups. In particular, find posts by JohnB. John is the absolute guru of weight distributing systems. I think you will find a bunch of good information there.

When you can, start a thread over in Towing and Tow Vehicles and give us a complete description of your towing gear, and I am certain that a number of us will have some useful advice for you.

Your shorter wheel base TV should still be a decent tow vehicle given the right setup of weight distribution and sway control. You should not have as much sway as you mentioned so it may be a simple matter of tweaking your existing equipment.

Again, welcome to the club.

Terhune · 05-04-2009, 02:56 PM

Steve

Thanks for the information and the welcome. I will get as much info about my towing setup as I can and post it as soon as possible. What I do know is that I have the WD system and very heavy duty. The hitch can be ajusted vertical and the leveling bars are very heavy duty and mount by chains.The sway control is a Pro Series Friction Sway Control (one side only) and it has an adjustment lever that can be tightened on a flat bar that looks as if it can slide in and out against pressure created by a pad that looks similar to brake pads. I assume that I can adjust this tighter to improve my sway problem. The interior of my TV has a Reese Brake Controler. My hitch itself is I assume a Reese or that was my understanding and what was to be installed. The service tech told me the ideal hitching technique was to have the TV level with the trailer or to have a small amount of drop. He said when we loaded the trailer for a trip that the weight would bring the rear of my TV down a little and that is the way it should be. I hope this makes sense because it sounds confusing when I read it.

Thanks again for any and all information that can be given. JIM

1987 Satellite · 05-10-2009, 05:35 PM

Hi,
My name is Mike and my father and I own a 1987 24' Satellite. We have it parked at a permanent site within Starlite Camping Resort, which incidentally is only a few miles west of Denver, PA where the Sunline factory is!!

We have owned the trailer since late 1995. We have camped in other campgrounds in the area such as Oak Creek Campground and Lake n' Wood Campground, but Starlite has been the mainstay of our camping experiences. Our last transient camping trip was in 2000 at Starlite. Since early 2002, the Satellite has been siting in its permanent site at Starlite. It is starting to show its 22 year age as we had to fix a leak in the roof, and the one kitchen wall is rotted out in between the wallpaper and the exterior steel.

But, we have to fix it in case we have to move it. I bet it would be a nightmare to move it since it hasn't turned a wheel in 7 years. But all in all it is a nice camper and I intend to have it for many more years. I'll see if I can scrounge up some photos of it when I get time. Also, if I do, what topic should I put them in?

Thanks,
Mike N.

Steve Collins · 05-10-2009, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1987 Satellite

I'll see if I can scrounge up some photos of it when I get time. Also, if I do, what topic should I put them in?

Mike,

First, welcome aboard. I think you will find that we're a friendly and helpful group here.

We love pictures. Since your Sunline has some problems that need work, I'd suggest you start a new thread over in Repairs and Maintenance about your trailer. There are a bunch of us that are oriented to fixing and modifying our rigs and we'll be glad to share our knowledge and experiences with you.

We're glad you're here!